Say goodbye to the days of the cattle-call bus tour, when masses
of weary visitors were herded through seven countries in six days,
stopping just long enough to snap a photo and climb back into their
air-conditioned coaches. "Today's travelers want to
participate in their vacations, not be passive sightseers,"
says Hank Phillips, executive director of the National Tour
Association in Lexington, Kentucky. "They want to explore and
experience new things."

This contemporary breed of traveler has spurred the growth of
the specialty travel industry. Tourism is the third-largest retail
sales industry in the United States, and specialty travel is one of
its fastest-growing segments. In 1996 (the most recent year for
which figures are available), more than 25 million people--many of
them baby boomers with unprecedented discretionary income--traveled
on tours, an increase of 22 percent since 1993.

The explosion in specialty travel has given the word
"vacation" a whole new meaning. Tour companies catering
to virtually every taste and interest imaginable are springing up.
No longer content to settle back with a bestseller on the beach,
ordinary people can spend a week living the life of a Civil War
soldier, taking a Jeep safari through the Arizona desert or
learning the elements of espionage. They can rope calves from atop
Palomino horses, go on archeological digs, sample various types of
cigars or take cooking classes in Mexico.

"A lot of these tour companies were started by people who
had a particular interest," says Steen Hansen, publisher of
Specialty Travel Index, a monthly adventure and specialty
travel magazine. "If it's done right, anything can become
a specialty travel business."

To start, you'll need $20,000 to $25,000. Much of that goes
toward initial marketing efforts, purchasing blocks of tickets and
reserving hotel space; the remainder covers office equipment.
It's good for prospective specialty tour organizers to have
experience in the travel industry or a network of contacts at
hotels and other destinations. Many specialty tour operators are
former travel agents.

Entrepreneurs in the specialty tour industry say the greatest
challenge is marketing. Because direct mail is the most effective
way for them to attract clients, many purchase mailing lists from
groups whose members might be interested in their tours. They also
maintain Web sites and advertise in national and special-interest
publications.

Christine Johnson, owner of World Beat Tours, a Portsmouth, New
Hampshire, travel company that specializes in trips to music
festivals, has looked beyond the obvious and sent company
literature to university music departments and record label
executives.

As with any start-up, profits can be slim initially, especially
since you must pay upfront to buy tickets or reserve hotel
rooms--even before you've booked a single client. As the
business grows, however, so do annual profits, which can range from
$30,000 to more than $100,000, or an average of 10 percent to 15
percent of gross sales, say industry experts. But for people in
this business, getting rich quick isn't the primary motive.
Making a living doing what they love is the big payoff.

On the following pages, meet nine specialty tour operators who
turned their passions and interests into an exciting way of
life.

The Wheel Deal

"Randonnée" is a French word meaning "to
make an excursion under one's own power." And that's
the key to Randonnée Tours, a Winnipeg, Manitoba, company that
arranges self-guided cycling and walking tours of England, France,
Holland, Ireland, Italy, Nova Scotia and Switzerland.

"Self-guided tours are a European style of travel,"
says Ruth Marr, who co-owns Randonnée Tours with her husband,
Rick Bueckert. "You have the feel of being on an organized
tour, but also have time alone."

This husband-and-wife team is uniquely qualified to run the
business. Bueckert is a travel consultant with a degree in classics
and art history; Marr is an environmental consultant who speaks
fluent French, has traveled in Africa and Asia, and has written two
books on walking and cycling. Marr ran an environmental consulting
firm for five years before deciding to follow her bliss in the
specialty travel industry.

"We have experience traveling this way, so we know what
it's like to spend seven days on a bike. That helps us plan and
gives us a better idea of customers' expectations,"
explains Marr, who makes two or three trips with Bueckert to each
destination to work out details before clients arrive.

Most of Randonnée's clients are women in their late
forties, although ages range from 20 to 70. The company's
fastest-growing market is honeymooners. In the future, the partners
plan to create shorter self-guided tours for businesspeople who
want to combine work with pleasure--as they themselves have
done.

"Adventure travel is a lifestyle," says Marr. "My
husband and I get to spend five or six months each year in Europe.
[In this industry,] you have to look at nonmonetary rewards as well
as monetary ones."

Their motto is "Insanity with dignity." They pose for
their promotional literature in outfits that would make Carmen
Miranda turn grape-green with envy. And the names of their tours
could win a creative writing contest: Red Hot Mamas Cookin' (a
week of cooking classes in Mexico), What's Mayan is Yours (a
trek to the Yucatan Peninsula) and Erin Go Braghless (a tour of
western Ireland).

But behind the lighthearted facade, Carol Rivendell, a former
psychotherapist, and Martha Lindt, a travel agent, are serious
about offering women high-quality, guilt-free getaways.

"We created Wild Women for women who want to travel on
their own--but not alone," says Lindt, who met Rivendell when
their children were high school sweethearts.

Without enough start-up capital to compete with established tour
operators and their slick brochures, the partners needed to find
another way to distinguish themselves. "We decided to be
menopausal bitches from hell," Rivendell wisecracks. They
dressed up and had a friend do their photography. Their catalog,
reminiscent of Mad magazine, is printed on inexpensive
newsprint. Their first clients came from a mailing list provided by
a local comedian.

Although they initially targeted housewives and older women
longing to see the world, their client base has expanded to include
young professionals too busy to plan their own vacations.
"We're passionate about travel and feel strongly about
women taking time off to do something for themselves,"
Rivendell says. "This is hard work, but my God, it's
fun."

Surf's Up

Company: San Diego Surfing AcademyLocation: San DiegoOwners: Pat Weber, 38, and Lynne Weber, 34Date started: June 1995Start-up costs: Less than $5,000Sales: $200 to $1,600 per day

He used to sell carpet for a living, but his heart always longed
for the waves he had surfed since age 6. After talking with owners
of other surfing camp companies, Pat Weber knew he had to make the
break.

While his wife, Lynne, continued working as an administrative
assistant, Pat bought three used surfboards for $250, begged
friends to donate wet suits, bought liability insurance and started
the business. The company offers surfing lessons; a six-day adult
surfing camp in the spring and summer; and surfing jaunts to Baja,
California, in the fall and winter.

Pat still remembers his first clients, a twenty-something couple
who'd always wanted to surf but lived in the Midwest. Other
clients who now flock to his camp for sun, fun and adventure
include teenagers who get surf lessons as graduation presents,
people battling midlife crises, and sales representatives who win
surf lessons as workplace incentives.

Working from home, the Webers (Lynne's now in the business
full time) market their company through the chamber of commerce and
local tourist bureau, ads in surfing magazines, and word-of-mouth;
much of their business comes from their Web site. Although the
business sounds glamorous, there's a great deal of grunt work:
loading equipment, rinsing wet suits and completing paperwork.
"Some days, I'm a poster boy for Advil and Ben-Gay,"
Pat says. "But I have a romantic notion about being paid to be
an athlete."

The Beat Goes On

Company: World Beat ToursLocation: Portsmouth, New HampshireOwner: Christine Johnson, 31Date started: November 1997Start-up cost: $25,000Sales: Aiming for $300,000 in first year

A happy confluence of Christine Johnson's love of music, her
experience as a travel agent, and a fiancé who's a concert
promoter with access to tickets gave rise to World Beat Tours, a
travel company that coordinates tickets, travel accommodations and
related activities for music aficionados planning vacations around
music festivals.

World Beat makes arrangements for clients attending everything
from the New Orleans Jazz Festival and the London Beatles Tour to
the Reggae Sunsplash in Jamaica. Because each concert attracts a
very different type of client, Johnson targets her direct mailings
accordingly. Focusing only on residents of Boston, Los Angeles, New
York and Seattle, she buys appropriate mailing lists in those
cities, then markets only to people she perceives as potential
customers. For an upscale event, such as the Montreux Jazz Festival
in Switzerland, Johnson sells to a middle-aged, upper-middle-income
customer; for the Reggae Sunsplash, she focuses on a younger crowd.
Despite the success of direct mail, her Web site has given the best
return on investment.

Still in the start-up phase, Johnson is learning about details
such as accurately estimating the number of tickets she can sell
per event. But those are snags that will work themselves out. Doing
what she loves is what her business and her life are about.

Star Tours

Company: FilmScape VacationsLocation: Fresno, CaliforniaOwners: Jacqueline Farkas, 52, and Jay Farkas, 28Date started: April 1997Start-up costs: Less than $20,000Sales: Estimated at $65,000 in first year

Deep in our hearts, we all want to be movie stars. FilmScape
lets clients fulfill that dream--at least for a week. Guests
experience the art of movie-making, assuming the roles of writer,
director, producer and actor under the careful direction of
Farkas' 28-year-old son, Jay, a professional producer and
director, and FilmScape's co-owner and vice president.

Participants come from all walks of life, but many are
middle-aged and upper-middle-class folks who long to penetrate the
mystique of Hollywood. To expand the market, the Farkases recently
launched a program for clients aged 15 to 23 who want to learn
about TV production.

FilmScape was born of necessity when Jacqueline, who had owned a
travel agency since 1994, found profits dwindling after airlines
placed a cap on commissions. Jay came up with the idea for
FilmScape; his mom provided the start-up capital.

A one-time accountant, Jacqueline much prefers travel to
numbers-crunching: "I get a far better reaction when I'm
handing people a ticket to a vacation than a tax form."